Saturday, March 10th - Kaia's comments

(above) Lauren 36 weeks, "Pretty in Pink" Can you tell that we're all very ready for spring?
(below) Connor's trauma for the day - waiting for his precious Blankey to go through the laundry

We're just truckin' right along - getting closer and closer to the day that Lauren will be home with us! We've been told she may be home in a week or two!!!! Suddenly that seems so soon! We've very excited!

As you can imagine, the nurses and docs wouldn't even be tempting us with the idea of Lauren's homecoming if she wasn't doing fabulously well. At just 36 weeks, still a month away from her due date, she is 'getting very close,' according to her care team. She's mastering all of the skills she needs to, including nursing, eating regularly from a bottle, breathing and keeping her heart rate at an appropriate level. She has A's and B's infrequently now, and she must go at least 5 days without either before she can be discharged. She's continuing to need less and less oxygen, but we know she will continue to need some help in the breathing area for at least a few more months. She's taking every other feeding from either bottle or nursing. Once she can take them all, she will no longer need a tube down her throat.

We had a 'Care Conference' last week to review her progress and discuss her upcoming discharge, which was great. It was a chance for everyone to get on the same page in terms of her nutrition, respiratory, cardio history and progress. The meeting was lead by her primary NNP (nurse practitioner) the head Neonatologist for the hospital's NICU (who also happened to be the hospital's physician of the year last year!), her primary nurse, Lauren's future pediatrician, as well as a social worker who will be coordinating any ongoing therapies that Lauren may need over the next 3 years. I'm not sure if all NICU's do 'care conferences' like this, but it was very reassuring for us. It was great to review her complete history and to have the health care professionals who are currently taking care of her in the hospital actually sit down with the people who will ensure she continues to develop well after discharge.

By the way, Lauren is just under 6lbs!!! Last night she weighed 5lbs 14oz. We hope that she can continue such fabulous growth when she gets home. She had another eye exam last week, which came back with 'no change' - so she still has level 1 ROP. The doc said it was great that the ROP hasn't progressed and it seems like the blood vessels in her eyes may be growing normally now. She also has another brain scan, which also came back with great results - normal! No problems. The last test she will have is a hearing test, which should take place sometime next week.

At home, we've adapted well to our routine, but we know that it will all change very soon. All of the grandparents are overseas right now, so we hope that they return before Lauren is discharged!! Grant's parents are in France visiting Pat's mother, and Kaia's parents are trekking around Botswana on the last week of their amazing trip. We'll look forward to having them home this week!